A Cry For Help

[runner5]

Hi I am new to this forum. I was diagnosed in October of 2003 through very elevated blood tests and some symptoms. I have been trying to follow the diet for the past two years and I will admit every once in a while I cheat. I know there are others out there who are surviving but I find eveything sssoo tempting (even if I didn't like it before the diagnosis!) Any tips?

Now even when I am doing good and eating gluten-free for a while I get terrible abdominal pains and cramps. Lots of times it is when I know I haven't eaten anything wrong. Things seem to have gotten worse since I have started the diet. Whats up? Any ideas?

Thanks for reading!

[judy05]

Hi I am new to this forum. I was diagnosed in October of 2003 through very elevated blood tests and some symptoms. I have been trying to follow the diet for the past two years and I will admit every once in a while I cheat. I know there are others out there who are surviving but I find eveything sssoo tempting (even if I didn't like it before the diagnosis!) Any tips?

Now even when I am doing good and eating gluten-free for a while I get terrible abdominal pains and cramps.  Lots of times it is when I know I haven't eaten anything wrong. Things seem to have gotten worse since I have started the diet. Whats up? Any ideas?

Thanks for reading!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I stated to go gluten-free around the same time that you were diagnosed. I don't cheat but I do sometimes overeat on some of the gluten-free foods. Gluten causes terrible migraines which scare me so bad it keeps me from cheating. When I first went gluten-free I got worse before I got better. I spent a whole summer curled up in a fetal position because of the pain and cramping. My GI doc said that I have a lot of air in my belly which was causing the right-sided pain. I found fiber pills helped. They are for diarrhea and constipation both. It took almost 9mos to feel better and I think the final tip that helped me was to give up all dairy. I still can only eat hard cheddar. Try to keep foods handy so you won't be tempted to cheat. There are plenty of good foods that don't contain Gluten! Please try to remember that gluten is like eating poison, you don't know what it will lead to in the future. Hope this helps.

[Claire]

Amen to everything in Judy's message - especially the part about what this gluten can do to you over time.

My personal experience is testimony to the fact that even if it isn't giving you terrible migraines, or record breaking big D - it may be silently messing up some cells in your body and one day the effects of that cell damage will show up. Mine did.

We are all tempted and it can be tough. I can pass up cakes and pies, even bread but just don't show me a delicious looking scone. So I go into a new little cafe next to our local Meat Market and there they are - fresh from the oven. It would have been much easier to say "gluten be dammed" than to sit, as I did, with a cup of coffee (great coffee) and read the morning paper.

Simply put, I don't want my condition to worsen. If not eating gluten containing foods is the price for that - so be it. The pleasure is for the moment. The disability is for keeps. Claire

[Billygoat]

It IS hard to not cheat sometimes. But like someone else said, keep some gluten-free sweets and yummies around. When that craving hits me, at least I have SOMETHING to turn to as an alternative. Now when I see things I shouldn't eat, I have a much easier time turning it down.

When I react now, it's because I've ingested something that has gluten in it and I didn't realize it. Up until this summer, I just assumed "wheat free" meant "gluten-free". SOOOO not the case! I was eating stuff left and right with gluten in it and couldn't figure out why I was reacting.

Just last night, hubby and I go out for sushi and I forgot to take my San-J soy sauce. Thank goodness there was a Whole Foods about 5 minutes away, so I could make a run for it. I remember sitting there thinking, "I can just go ahead and eat my sushi with the regular soy sauce and pay for it for the next several weeks. Or I can take out 15 minutes and go to the store and be a good girl." I opted to be a good girl and I'm very grateful this morning.

[Jnkmnky]

Hi I am new to this forum. I was diagnosed in October of 2003 through very elevated blood tests and some symptoms. I have been trying to follow the diet for the past two years and I will admit every once in a while I cheat. I know there are others out there who are surviving but I find eveything sssoo tempting (even if I didn't like it before the diagnosis!) Any tips?

Now even when I am doing good and eating gluten-free for a while I get terrible abdominal pains and cramps.  Lots of times it is when I know I haven't eaten anything wrong. Things seem to have gotten worse since I have started the diet. Whats up? Any ideas?Thanks for reading!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can't cheat. If you do, you won't feel better. Maybe your body doesn't like to be antagonized. Stop cheating.

[kolney]

Why cheat? I was diagnosed one month before you and have never been tempted to cheat. I am so healthy being gluten-free I NEVER want to go back. Learn to cook and bake if you don't know how. You can make everything that tempts you gluten-free, well maybe not beer, but baked goods, pizza, cakes, sweet rolls, etc. If you need recipes, go to www.delphiforums.com then celiac disease. there is an entire folder of recipes. Also get gluten-free cookbooks from ebay or amazon .com. Your health is worth investing your time, money, and energy. You WILL be better off. Good luck.

Kathryn

Zeeland, MI

[LLCoolJD]

It seems the focus of the poster's message wasn't about cheating but about unexplained gastro problems...

There's always the chance that you're eating something with gluten that you don't know about. This is the case most of the time. Try to keep track of what you eat, so you can isolate possible culprits in your diet. For me, Hornsby's Cider, which I've read contains gluten, was a hidden problem for a while.

There's also the chance that you've got other food intolerances/allergies. I know another person with Celiac disease who cannot tolerate much soy. And personally, I suspect that dairy gives me some problems (cheddar is probably the least problematic due to its relatively low lactose content). Tomato paste, though gluten free, also causes some problems for me, so I stick to fresh tomatoes these days.

[Guest BellyTimber]

I don't feel much better after nearly 3 years, it evidently does take quite a while for some of us.

Console yourself by thinking that the better and longer you keep up your new diet, the better foundation you are laying for the remainder of your life.

Keep up the green veg (for the calcium).

Maybe like me while you don't eat things made from wheat, gluten etc there are traces from the manufacturing process, and that is something we may get better at avoiding as time passes.

Look at what you have achieved so far, compliment yourself for your adventurousness, and let us know how you get on.

Immerse yourself in the goldfield of recipes, shopping ideas etc on this site, I don't put the recipes into action much but I find them food for wholesome thinking.

I've learned that there are substitute flours for every ordinary flour in just about every kind of food, so that will help me when I get back to cooking & baking.

I turned half my living room into a pantry so I have better food preparation space.